BobHarris.com - A Team I Cheer For Actually Won Something

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"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"

-- The Wall Street Journal

"Pulls you in like a good sports story"

-- The New York Times Book Review

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-- New York Newsday

"A surprisingly touching memoir"

-- Entertainment Weekly

"Snappy and informative"

-- Associated Press

"Effortlessly funny and informative... tender, human, and very wise... A must for anyone who loves Jeopardy!, or has ever seen it, or is breathing."

-- Joss Whedon, creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"I haven't seen Jeopardy! since I was a kid, and yet I was charmed and amused by Bob Harris's fascinating and surprisingly suspenseful book. Through sheer force of personality, he takes this brainy TV show and makes it funny and easy to relate to."

-- Ira Glass, creator and host, This American Life

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-- Orson Scott Card, 4-time Hugo Award winner, author of Ender's Game

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-- A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All

"A masterful job of describing the feel of Jeopardy! in the heat of battle... I knew Bob was a great guy and a fantastic Jeopardy! player. Now I've found that he's also a wonderful writer. I think I'm starting to hate him."

-- Brad Rutter, top money-winner in Jeopardy! history

Books I'm Getting

Who Hates Whom:
Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up —
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™

“Revelatory... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”

— Boston Globe

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— New York Observer

"Only Bob could make a user’s guide to our increasingly hostile world this absorbing, this breezy, and—ultimately—this hopeful.”

— Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING. A gimlet-eyed look at the world we endure that’s also suitable for enjoying with a gimlet.”

— John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"All three [presidential] candidates should read all three of these [recommended] books, but McCain gets first crack at Bob Harris's "Who Hates Whom“... a lighthearted overview of the insurrections and civil wars in the world today."

— Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought, in the New York Times Book Review

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A Team I Cheer For Actually Won Something

Tag it now -

Wednesday, 03 October 2007

The Cleveland Indians won 8 more games than I thought they would, finishing with the Central Division title and tied for the best record in all of baseball.

Nobody remembers that stuff in two years, of course, unless you win the World Series. But still. If you're an Indians fan, it's kind of a big deal.

Fun season. The team got off to a seriously hot start, then played only about .500 ball for a couple of months, eventually slacking of to pace that would have bullseyed the 88-win level. But in late July, they acquired Kenny Lofton, not realizing that his skills have begun to erode significantly with age, and batted him near or at the top of the lineup, thinking this might add some pop.

Umm... no, as became obvious pretty quickly. When Lofton batted either first or second, the Indians went 6-11, scoring an average of 3.4 runs per game, down a full run and a half from their previous output. Suddenly this above-average team started looking like they might struggle to break .500 by the end..

Finally, on August 25, the team figured out the problem, dropped Lofton and Casey Blake down in the order, and gave more playing time to promising youngster Franklin Gutierrez. Boom. Offense instantly returned, and the team went on an immediate eight-game win streak, going 26-9 the rest of the way.

As to Lofton, I've never seen a well-respected player have such a measurable negative statistical impact on a team. Almost everything about his game has declined. Steals? A 40% success rate with the Indians. Defense? Range factor numbers show that Lofton doesn't get to as many balls as even an average-speed player. (Btw, in August, I guessed that he'd wind up his stretch in Cleveland with a benchwarmer-level OPS of ".720ish." He ultimately clocked in at .714.)

Also in August, the Indians tried giving the second base job to a poised 21-year-old named Asdrubal Cabrera, who has been a huge upgrade both at the plate and defensively. His minor league numbers don't indicate he's quite the B+ hitter yet that we've seen this season -- batting between two All-Stars tends to get you some extra hittable fastballs -- but his defensive stats indicate that he may well hold second base in Cleveland for several years. After which, he'll become an expensive free agent and go play in a big city somewhere. Yerrrgh.

So what's next for the Indians? A five-game playoff series against New York, starting tomorrow. It's a short series, and the Indians have the home field and two quality starting pitchers, so they've got a shot.

However.

The Indians are 0-6 against the Yankees this year.

And even if they do get a lead, there's trouble.

The Indians' closer, Joe Borowski, has a truly bad 5.07 ERA with eight Blown Saves. Nine more of his 45 Saves would have been Blown Saves if he's only had a one-run lead.

More to the point: against the Yankees, Borowski is 0-2 with a 15.43 ERA for his career. This season, the Yankees' lineup is batting a combined .379 against him.

Uh-oh.

Next year, though, the Indians should have a definite shot at the whole thing.

PS -- getting this in before the first pitch in a few hours: the numbers say Boston is by far the best team in the AL. Not so clear in the NL, which is a weak field. I'll pick Colorado, but it's only by a hair. Boston should win the World Series this year.